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Husband faces trial in wife's death in allegedly faked ATV crash

Prosecution claims insurance, other woman motives, but defense lawyer says he will prove his client innocent

By Rick Lee

Daily Record/Sunday News

Updated:
04/23/2014 08:55:42 AM EDT

Joseph Fitzpatrick is escorted from courthouse in cuffs after a judge bound over his charges for trial in homicide of his wife.
(Kate Penn -- Daily Record/Sunday News)

The prosecution at Joseph Bernard Fitzpatrick III's preliminary hearing on Tuesday alleged his wife's $1.7 million life insurance policies and his ongoing relationship with another woman were his motives to kill his wife.

Tuesday, Joseph Fitzpatrick, 41, of the 2200 block of Old Forge Road in Chanceford Township, was ordered to stand trial for his wife's June 6, 2012 drowning death.

Joseph Fitzpatrick told authorities that he and his wife were celebrating a late wedding anniversary by the creek that bordered their property. He said she was in control of the ATV, with him riding behind her, when she backed them over a 6-foot embankment and into the 8-foot deep creek.

Joseph Fitzpatrick III is taken from his preliminary hearing for the homicide of his wife in cuffs at the courthouse in Red Lion Tuesday. (Kate Penn -- Daily Record/Sunday News)

Fitzpatrick said he dove repeatedly looking for his wife's body before spotting it on the other side of the creek.

Cosey said an autopsy on the 43-year-old woman's body confirmed she drowned under "suspicious circumstances."

After Pennsylvania State Police attempted to reconstruct the fatal ATV ride, the death was ruled a homicide, he said. Cosey said the woman's body was covered with abrasions and contusions.

Cpl. George Cronin noted that state troopers saw no similar injuries on Joseph Fitzpatrick.

Cronin testified that troopers also found a note in Annemarie Fitzpatrick's day planner that read, "If anything happens to me - Joe."

Cronin said Tuesday on the stand, "My conclusion is he killed his wife."

Cpl. Andrew Thierwechter, a state police accident reconstructionist, said he attempted to reenact the ATV going into the creek at the Fitzpatrick property. But, he said, using full-size male and female mannequins, troopers could not get one of the mannequins to cross the creek, against the current, to where Joseph Fitzpatrick said he located his wife's body.

Jessica George, the woman Joseph Fitzpatrick started seeing some weeks before his wife's death, testified that Fitzpatrick was unhappy in his marriage but never said anything derogatory about his wife and never alluded to hurting or killing her.

After Fitzpatrick, who remains in York County Prison without bail, was bound over on murder charges, Chief Deputy Prosecutor David Sunday said, "The district attorney's office is very pleased with the outcome of this preliminary hearing.
"We look forward to ... finding justice for Annemarie."

Defense attorney Chris Ferro said he was not surprised that his client was ordered to stand trial.

"From what I heard today I'm confident that there are going to be some issues that we can explore in much more detail at a later date and time," he said.

Ferro added that he expects to be able to prove that "Joe is innocent."

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